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Mog/LR Hybrid axle


Soren Frimodt

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Well, thought I'd post a bit about this project as it has been on the drawing board for quite a while. And if not of particularly interest to people, at least it can act as a bit of entertainment over these cold winter days ;)

It all started some years back when I got my Unimog 404 and we found that the diff's were running the exact ratio as a Defender (ie. 3.54:1) And that got us thinking..

He then got his own 404, and after being really impressed at how much those portals actually help, the idea woke from the grave again and his head was full of ideas!

Eventually he bought a complete 404 rolling chassis which we picked up at our good friend who deals a lot with Mogs.

Here's how it looked when we picked it up:

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Being quite busy at his work, this project is going to take some time though, but we started by cutting and pasting some bigger arches on his ninety some time ago, I made a thread about it here:

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=62358&st=0&p=540454&hl=+extended%20+arches&fromsearch=1entry540454

He has now begun on the more techy bit of the project and has flipped the diff in an front LR axle housing along with adding some strength to it.

The mog front axle housing was then chopped and things got measured and trialed, and finally tacked into place, leading to this:

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And a pic showing clearance with 35" tyres:

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That's all for now, will keep you updated as it progresses, and if you have any questions, fire away!

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Hi Soren, an interesting project your brother has there, thank you for sharing it with us. I've seen similar work on Pirate with Ford 9", Hi-9 and Dana 60 based centre sections.

A couple of questions, the LR diff is a lot weaker than the other axles I mention above, what are you doing about half shafts and diff strength? Are you going to fit lockers? Some of US guys are using higher ratio diffs, to raise the over all gearing, is this an option with the LR diff?

Keep us updated!

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Interesting project, lots of people talk about doing this sort of thing so it's good to see someone actually bashing metal.

I note (in relation to PB's questions above) that you've got a strengthening rib along the front of the axle case, so it'll be interesting to see how well the LR case stands up. I'd guess diff/shaft strength will be less of an issue with the portal reduction, although as PB says you're going to end up with very low gearing. Possibly not too low for a dedicated trialler, but not so great for road use?

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Hi guys, well first off I forgot to mention something. In the rear we will be using a complete mog axle, hence why the ratio was so important. As you point out FF, the reduction in the portals reduces the stress on the diff and shafts, actually halfing in theory. But having flipped the diff, we also get a 30 increase in RWP strength. But all be said, he is left to destroy a diff as it is with a well turned up 200 tdi and 35 tyres. So strength is not really a concern to him. Re. Gearing we swapped his transfer for a 1:1 some weeks ago, and that's as good as it gets. He's going to be running 38"s. But it will be too low for highway speeds, but who's in a rush? ;)

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Just to excite you, here's a 90 on Mogs and the standard 38" tyres:

post-5209-0-62665900-1294921270_thumb.jpg

Out of interest, what is the motivation for using the Landrover centre section? I've seen on the US built axles I mentioned the reasons given as better choice of lockers and gears, better options for propshaft and clearance (because of the size and length of the Mog diff). However by using the standard axle in the rear and standard ratios all I can see is that the Landrover diff will give much better clearance on the sump of the TDi, which was a problem with the final version of my Brother-in-laws build.

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Well PB you kind of answered your own question. It is mainly because of sump clearence. But also converting the Mog frontaxle to fit and run the right way is more work (we figured) than to modify the LR housing. And so far my guess is its true, he hasn't spend much time on the roverhousing, and bar spring mounts, it's done. On another note; he doesnt want the car to stand as tall as your brother-in-laws on the picture you attached. It's going to sit 1" lower than stock in the suspension, so all the lift is from the portals and the wheel height. This is of course done to make sure it doesnt roll onto its roof on every little bump ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Time for an update.

Front housing and ancillaries all painted up and ready for assembly as soon as the halfshafts are ready.

Rear Mog axle has been stripped down and received the necessary modifications.

The housing around the diff had to be kinked to allow doing/undoing of the nut for the A-arm.

Further the springseats needed a little lift and some clearance to fit properly.

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post-9137-0-74403600-1296397176_thumb.jpg

post-9137-0-90516000-1296397268_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update:

Rear housing done and pinion conversion carried out using nothing but Mog and LR parts. Only thing left to do is drill and tap a hole in the center of the pinion shaft to retain the prop flange. This might prove difficult though because of material hardness, but according to the mighty interweb it should be possible when you have shortened the shaft because you then get into the core which isn't hardened. But we'll see how it goes.

post-9137-0-59584300-1297156503_thumb.jpg

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The shorter of the front halfshafts is welded together, why exactly he choose to add the outer tube I do not know as the weak point will be at the weld either way. But he figured it was best.

post-9137-0-79481300-1297156655_thumb.jpg

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Okay, yes Mercedes really does change a lot during production. On the many Mog axles you have built, have you noticed the clever "diff pegging" in the rear where the diff bearing caps has a casting that slides inside two tappets on the housing? This really is quite cool. Just like on the new 110" rear axle

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Okay, yes Mercedes really does change a lot during production. On the many Mog axles you have built, have you noticed the clever "diff pegging" in the rear where the diff bearing caps has a casting that slides inside two tappets on the housing? This really is quite cool. Just like on the new 110" rear axle

It's not excusive to rears, i've seen them front and rear normally on later axles.

The lastest axles (late 70's) had a totally different ring, pinion and diff center to the early axles

The late diff centers are of a much more conventional design and are definatly stronger.

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Yeah looks more like a rover type r&p right? I would say these are the later type then, cause they look nothing like mine from 64

That's right, i'm sure that some of those later ones had 4 pin centers as well.

I've punched a big chunck out of the ring gear on an early type, it just blew a chunk clean out between two bolt holes right down to the register in the center.

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AFAIK the 4 pin diff was an option for quite some years, but they could be fitted as stock on some of later mog's. Wow how did you do that? With some big HP motor? Have had no diff problems with my 49's but then again my engine is gutless.

No big hp just a tuned tdi, and lots of abuse, we've had lots of diff lock and portal box problems as well.

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Well being Merc, everything is thought through ;) So it is very well sealed and there are grease points absolutely everywhere on the axles. So no big concern. And add to the fact that they don't spend as much time submerged in the sloppy stuff as LR axles on 7.50s These are quite a bit higher off the ground.

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